CPM cadres kill 3 in Nandigram

Two women claim that CPM cadres repeatedly raped them before they were rescued, report R Hossain & D Chaudhuri.

Three persons were killed and dozens sustained bullet injuries after CPM cadres opened fire on two unarmed peace rallies organised by Bhumi Uchched Pratirodh Committee (BUPC) on Saturday.

Though official reports confirmed the three deaths, Debashis Boral, Additional SP of East Midnapore, West Bengal, said two persons were killed and 17 injured.

<b1>BUPC members admitted two women to the Tamluk hospital. The women, one from Satengabari and the other from Sonachura, claimed that CPM cadres repeatedly raped them before they were rescued.

According to Trinamool Congress MLA Sishir Adhikari, CPM cadres fired indiscriminately at the peaceful rally near Amgachiya, approximately three kilometres from Nandigram, without any provocation from the 5000 BUPC members who participated in it.

"Five bodies have been found while many more are lying on the field near Khejuri. They have captured nearly 200 BUPC members and took them away to Khejuri where they were being beaten up and tortured”. Adhikari claimed.

The injured were taken to the Nandigram Hospital and the Tamluk Sub-Divisional Hospital. The state police refused to accompany the peace rally but wielded batons and fired tear gas shells at BUPC members when they staged a peaceful demonstration in front of the Nandigram police station after the CPM attack.

Meanwhile, filmmakers Aparna Sen and Rituporno Ghosh announced their decision to boycott the film festival in Kolkata. Sen’s father and renowned film critic Chidananda Dasgupta has also reportedly resigned from the chairmanship of the film selection committee. "Nandigram has become a slaughter house with blood being shed every day. CPM might be at the helm of affairs but the state still belongs to us,” she said at a protest rally.

Sen also asked Kolkatans to come forward and raise their voice against the carnage and announced that a silent procession would be held on November 14 as a mark of protest.